Railway-car



J. is. LOW.

RAILWAY OAR.

No. 429,216. Patented June 3, 1890.

z E E 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. B. LOW.

RAILWAY GAR.

, Illll Patented June 3, 1890.

a l M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOEL B. LOW, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

RAILWAY-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,216, dated June 3,1890.

Application filed February 5, 1890 Serial No. 339306, (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOEL B. LOW, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California,have invented an Improvement in Railway- Cars; and I hereby-declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of railwaycars, both for steam andstreet railways, though especially for the ordinary railways of citiesand towns.

My invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of theseats, sashes, and sides of the car, which will be hereinafter fullyexplained, and specifically pointed out in the claims, and the object ofwhich is to enable and facilitate the ready and easy conversion of thecar from a closed to an open car, and vice versa, thereby adapting thesame car for use in all kinds of weather.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanationof my invention, Figure l is a vertical cross-section of my car, oneside being open and the other side closed. Fig. 2 is a perspective viewshowing the closed car. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the opencar.

A represents generally the frame-work or structure of the car, having inthe center the customary passage-Way a. The sides of the car arecomposed of uprightframes B, formed of independent separated stanchionsor posts, which support the roof a.

C are the car-seats, and D are the backs of the seats. The seats arehinged at the point e in any suitable manner to the supports or legs E,so that said seats may be turned through a halt-circle from a positionin which they extend outwardly toward the sides to a position in whichthey extend inwardly toward the central passage of the car, and viceversa. The backs D are hinged at d in a suitable manner to the seats andare made long enough to extend down to the floor of the sides. Thus whenthe backs are turned outwardly, so that the passengers face inwardly,said backs completely inclose the lower portion of the sides. The upperportion of the sides of the car is to be opened and closed by the sashesG, so that the seatbacks, together with the sashes, are intended tocompletely close and to fully open the car sides. In order to do this,the sashes have to be made adjustable in some manner, so as to adaptthem to be moved in order to close and open the upper portion of thesides. Though the sashes may be arranged in several ways to efiect thisobj ect-as, for example, by hinging them after the manner of blinds,whereby they maybe tu rned into the ends of the car, orin other suitablewaysl prefer to arrange them by housing them in the seat-backs, so thatthey will take up no room, can be readily manipulated, and will be outof the way. Therefore in the backs D are made grooves or openings F,which serve 'as housings for the window-sashes G. These sashes may bemade sectional, the upper or shorter portions I g being hinged to thelower or longer portions, and when the hinged portions are turned downagainst the lower portions the sashes are then of such length as to befitted snugly and securely within the grooves F of the seat-backs.

- The dimensions of the seat-backs and of the sashes are such that whenthe former are turned outwardly toward the sides of the car and thelatter are raised outof their housings and run up to the top of thesides of the car said backs and sashes shall perfectly and fully closethe entire sides of the car, thus making of the car a closed one. Theseat-backs, being hinged, may be manipulated in. smaller space and moreconveniently than if they were rigidly secured to theseats and dependedfor their reversal upon the reversal of the seats.

From the foregoing description the entire manipulation of the car andthe effect thereof will be readily understood.

By referring to Fig. 2 it'will be seen that when the car is to be aisedas a closed one the seats are all turned so that the passengers sitfacing the middle of the car; the backs of the seats are turned to theoutside and occupy a vertical position, in which they completely inclosethe lower portion of the sides of the car, covering fully the spacesbetween the posts or stanehions B thereof; the sashes are raised up outof their seat-backs, their upper sections being turned upwardly in line,and said sashes are supported in a vertical position by resting on asmall shoulder on the back of the seat, and in this position theyentirely inclose the upper port-ion of the sides.

Now by referring to Fig. 3 the conversion of the car into an open onewill be seen. The sashes are released and run down into the seat-backs,where they are securely housed. The seat-backs and seats are then turnedover, so that the backs occupy a vertical position along and parallelwith the central passage of the car, and the passengers sit facing theoutside. The sides of the car are thus wholly open. The change can beeasily ell'ected and the car converted quicklyfrom a closed to an openone, thus enabling a single car to be used in all kinds of weather. Theseat-backs and seats may be separate short ones or continuous long ones,as may be desired, and the sashes may be made of any c011- venientdimensions.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A convertible open and closed railwaycar having its sides fitted withwindow-sashes adapted to open and close the upper portion of thecar-sides, reversible seats, and reversible backs connected with saidseats and adapted to be turned outwardly to close the lower portion ofthe car-sides and inwardly to open them, substantially as hereindescribed.

2. In a railway-car, the reversible seatbacks adapted to close and toopen the lower portion of the sides of the car, according to theposition to which they are turned, and the adjustable sashes adapted tobe housed within and to be withdrawn or raised from the seat-backs, saidsashes when raised closing the upper portion of the sides of the car,and when fitted in the seat-backs opening said portion, substantially asherein described.

In a railway-ear, the reversible seats having the reversible backsadapted to close when in one position the lower portion of the sides ofthe car, and when in another position to open said sides, and adjustablesashes adapted to be housed in the backs of the seats, and when raisedtherefrom to close the upper portion of the sides of the ear, and inconnection with said seat-backs to entirely inclose and to entirely opensaid sides, substantially as herein described.

4. A convertible closed and open car having sides of open frame-work,seats having reversible backs adapted in one position to fit in saidsides and close their lower portion, and when turned to another positionto open said lower portion, and adjustable sashes adapted to fit Withinthe backs of the seats to open the upper portion of the carsides, andwhen raised therefrom to close said upper portion, substantially asherein described.

5. A convertible closed and open car having sides of open frame-work,the hinged or reversible seats, the reversible backs hinged to saidseats and having the grooves, and the adjustable sashes adapted to behoused in said grooves and to be removed therefrom, said backs andsashes being adapted when turned outwardly and extended to close theopen frame-work sides of the car, and when fitted together and turnedinwardly to open said sides, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOEL 13. LOW.

\Vitnesscs:

H. NOURSE, ll. (1. LEE.

